


A Story Worth Telling

by PK_Cyanic



Series: DnD Character Backstories [1]
Category: Dungeons & Dragons (Roleplaying Game)
Genre: Backstory
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-10
Updated: 2020-11-10
Packaged: 2021-03-08 19:42:49
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 909
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27492133
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PK_Cyanic/pseuds/PK_Cyanic
Summary: Ledinia Swirlsaber is a local storyteller who brings joy and wonder to the citizens of her hometown. However, inside of her is a burning desire for an adventure of her own, waiting to be set alight. A minor slip-up inspires her, for better or for worse, to take action.
Series: DnD Character Backstories [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2009077





	A Story Worth Telling

The cabin’s single lantern kept the room a dim orange, providing the only escape from the darkness of the late night. The table was decorated with a single plate amidst several scattered forks and knives, each one dirtier than the last. Food stains marked the cabin, and a single pint was tipped over, its contents leaving a bubbly puddle onto the wooden floor. Ledinia was sprawled onto the bed, a dull pencil dangling from her fingers as she slept. An opened notebook sat to her right, filled with notes upon notes of her fantastical escapades. The gentle tune of the crickets outside filled the air, along with the rustling of leaves against the cabin. 

Slowly, her grip loosened, just enough for the pencil to lightly tap against the floor. Her eyes drearily opened, alerted to the gentle sound next to her. Drowsy, she had no idea what had happened before she went to sleep, only that it was some of the best rest she had ever had. Rising from her bed brought her face to face with an excruciating pain in her head; a severe headache locked her in place, and she could do nothing but groan in agony. Ledinia looked to her side, noticing the hastily-kept notebook. Scanning the pages, she was reminded of her previous night.

Ledinia was sitting atop a single wooden stump, surrounded by the local villagers of the town and facing the bright flame of a campfire. The night was well underway, and the full moon hung overhead, casting its light onto the village. As the crowd gathered around her, she began to weave a tale too far-fetched in its premise to believe, yet too specific in its details to doubt. Stories of adventures across the seas and through the forests, alongside romantics and heroes and scoundrels and criminals and the hopeful and the hopeless. It seemed to the locals as if she had been through every possible journey there could be and more. She loved the wondrous faces of the children who imagined themselves undertaking the same feats of bravery she described, their minds racing to embark on these same journeys themselves. And yet, despite the bright smile she wore while spinning tales of fantasy and adventure, within her lied a chasm of emptiness. 

None of it was true.

Of course, most people would assume that one young girl could never hope to have been involved in so many different life-changing adventures so early into her life, and that many of her tales were fabricated. As well, this fact of life would prove inconsequential to most storytellers within the trade; after all, what mattered most was entertaining the audience, above all else. What’s the harm in telling a few lies if it keeps the crowd interested? However, Ledinia could never bring herself to think this way. To her, the shining eyes of those who listened to her stories showed a desire for a future of adventure, one that she had made seem realistic and possible to attain. The mere thought of these same children growing up to be adults, realizing that the dreams they held in their youths were nothing more than unattainable fables, crushed her heart. She wished, with all of her being, that one day she would be able to tell a story with meaning. That she would no longer have to resort to lies and exaggerations to entertain the locals; that she would have a true story all her own to tell. 

Once she was done crafting her tale to the crowd, she was met with hefty applause and cheers, with many children running up to express their admiration. She smiled at them, promising to come back from her travels with an artifact from her adventures as a gift. The moment after doing so, she realized her own mistake. Hypnotized by their excited looks, Ledinia made a promise she could never hope to keep. She had never even come close to a true adventure in her life, and somehow, she would bring this town a memento of the hardships she claimed to survive? Before uttering another word, in a desperate attempt to reduce the damage done, she hurried to her cabin and locked the door, confining herself to her room and her thoughts. 

Ledinia’s thoughts were interrupted by the crack of dawn, the reddish-orange hues of the sun’s rise breaking in through the window. She slowly got out of bed, worrying about what she was to do about her predicament. Where was she, a storyteller with no real adventuring experience, supposed to come across a band of travelers willing to accept her? She peered outside of the window, seeing that no one in the village had been awakened by the dawn. Without thinking, she packed as many items as she could into her backpack and scurried out of the cabin, losing herself in the forests that surrounded the small clearing.

She knew she had to prove to herself that she was capable of the feats of bravery she had described, that she had what it takes to survive a journey. With nothing but a vague goal and her own determination on hand, as well as her creativity, Ledinia was dead-set on changing the tune of her life. 

The stories before may have been nothing more than meaningless fairytales, but she would make sure that she would return home with a story worth telling, one with her as the main character.


End file.
